MCC sends relief to Cubans in crisis

Over the last two years, pandemic travel restrictions have deprived Cubans of one of their most important sources of income: tourism. That plus new 2020 restrictions that have made it harder for Cubans abroad to send money back home have put Cuba in what some are calling a dire situation.

Without a steady stream of beachgoers coming in and out of the country, Cuba’s already hampered economy is barely hanging on. The country hasn’t seen scarcity like this since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

“People have told me they haven’t had an egg or any kind of meat for six months,” said Bonnie Klassen, Mennonite Central Committee’s area director for South America and Mexico. “They’re out of toothpaste, so they’re brushing their teeth with soap.”